Death is a Curse
by selizabetha01
Summary: Emma tries to make up for bringing Marian back by striking a deal with Mr Gold to bring Daniel back as well, in order to give Regina her happy ending. But all magic comes with a price and this isn't one Regina is willing to let Emma pay, if she can convince her to stop in time. One shot based on a Tumblr prompt.


**ORIGINAL PROMPT: After Robin is reunited with Marian, Emma tries to make it up to an angry Regina by giving her the happy ending she's been after. Emma goes to Rumple and asks if there's any way the Daniel Regina knew can be brought back from the past. Daniel comes back but there's a price if he stays permanently: the life of the person [Emma] who brought him back. Regina ends up realising she's in love with Emma.**

**A/N: Please use your imagination and pretend Regina got her engagement ring back after using it to fuel Jefferson's hat in **_**We Are Both.**_** Slight plot hole I noticed while writing but I couldn't think of another way to spin it that would work better.**

**This fic was a prompt given to me on Tumblr by an anonymous person who I would like to give a massive, massive thank you to. I wish I could give them a proper shout out but unfortunately I don't know who they are or how to reach them. I hope they see this. I was absolutely in love with this prompt so I hope I did it justice. I think it fits in nicely with a quote from last night's episode:**

**"You just have to fight. Okay. If you won't, I will."  
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><p>There was a jingle from the overhead bell as Emma entered the old fashioned shop, alerting the keeper of her presence. She knew it would only be moments before he appeared in front of her and made his presence known. It was a rare occurrence he'd be ready and waiting as someone other than Belle walked in. Emma had been in Storybrooke long enough now to know how the man operated, taking pleasure in stalking his prey and making them feel like they were the ones in control when really all he'd have to do would be to pull a single string and his puppets would whatever he most desired of them.<p>

There were people, like Belle, who were insistent on Rumple's redemption, but Emma knew better than to presume that. She could see how hard Regina had it every day, struggling to keep her emotions and her magic under control. That many years of pain and guilt and darkness were difficult to overcome and she knew that whatever Regina had gone through, Rumple had at some point inflicted more pain and darkness onto the world than any other. He wasn't the Dark One for no reason, just as at one point Regina had been known as the Evil Queen. No matter what anyone said, she knew redemption wasn't an overnight thing. Maybe he was working towards it for the sake of the ones he loved, but there was no way Emma would believe it came that easily for him as everyone else seemed to.

"What'll it be today, dearie?" his voice came from behind her, cold but maintaining his usual eerie element of playfulness.

Emma spun towards him, eyes narrowed, head tilted upwards. She wouldn't show him any signs of discomfort. She was sure he could already sense it anyway.

"I think you already know," she replied.

A teasing smile lit up on his face. "Unicorn hair, a bat's wing, perhaps a love repellent, I've seen how much time that _pirate_ has been spending around you lately. Wouldn't want to let anything get in the way of true love now, would we?"

Emma skipped over the distain in Rumple's voice when he spoke about Hook; she was used to it from everyone by this point, and the comment on true love. She wasn't here to debate his riddles.

"I need you to bring someone back," she stated, trying to keep her voice as level as possible.

"I'm going to need a little more information than that, princess."

Emma couldn't help but cringe at the use of her fairy tale title.

She held the older man's gaze as she spoke carefully. She knew there was a high probability of him rejecting her before he'd even heard her out and that she'd have to see if she could get some of her Charming family charm to work its own brand of magic on him.

"I need you to bring someone back from the dead."

"Impossible," Rumple said without missing a beat, turning away from her to wonder off behind the large wooden counter as he usually did when he decided a conversation was of no benefit to him and therefore over.

Emma wasn't prepared to let him go that easily, following him through the shop and leaning towards him with her hands placed firmly on the surface in front of her. "It's been done before I know it has, it can be done again."

The playfulness had gone from Rumple's voice now; he wasn't a man who liked to be challenged, especially not by someone so new to the world of magic. "And if I recall correctly that didn't end well for anybody involved."

A small growl of frustration came from Emma's throat. "One thing I've been told since I got to this damn town is that true love can break any curse. I've seen what death can do, I know first-hand what it inflicts into people's lives. Death is a curse except the price of it is paid by everyone around you, everyone who _loves_ you. If someone continues to love you even through the separate realms of life and death then surely that's enough to break a curse."

Rumple mirrored Emma's body language as he replied, leaning across the counter towards her until their faces were level. His voice lowered another octave. "Say there was a way, what's in it for me?"

"I thought you were an advocate for true love?" Emma quipped before continuing, "Magic always comes with a price, you're the expert, you tell me."

"Then that can be your price," he stated as a matter of fact.

A dint formed between Emma's eyebrows as she straightened up her posture.

"What could you possibly want with my magic?"

"Not your magic, Miss Swan. To grant one true love another must be taken away. Fair is fair."

"When have you ever cared about what's fair?" she protested.

"Why do you think all my deals go both ways? Surely even Regina must have taught you magic has to create some sort of balance in order for it to be effective during your lessons."

"I'm not here to destroy anyone else's happiness," Emma explained before he could bring up her ignorance to magic any further. "I've done enough of that on my own." Her eyes lowered to the floor as she spoke.

"Not just anyone else's happiness, dearie, the happiness of the one who casts the spell: your own." He paused for a moment before continuing, letting the magnitude of the information he had just dropped on her sink in. "If you change your mind, you know where to find me. Oh," he added as an afterthought, "and you're going to need some sort of anchor – something meaningful to both parties that'll tether the deceased's presence to this world."

Emma swallowed hard, unable to reply. All she could do was watch the leathery-skinned man walk away as she stood with wide eyes, trying to process what she was about to do. She _was _going to do it. There had been a brief flicker for a moment there when she thought she wouldn't but then she thought of the look on Regina's face when she realised Marian was alive. She remembered watching helplessly as Regina had exited the diner, attempting to hold herself together while in everyone else's presence as if she wasn't about to crumble to the ground.

Emma thought of how she'd followed Regina onto the street, the way the other woman had looked at her with the same expression she imagined had been on her face when she'd watched Neal die, her chance at happiness lost. Emma had never before felt so much discomfort from not being able to help someone. She'd let Regina shout at her, she'd probably have let her use magic on her if that was what she'd wanted, not that she'd really have had much of a choice. It was all she knew how to do, watch the strength crumble in the woman who stood before her, and let Regina take all her anger out on her as a way of trying to stick it all back together.

She couldn't undo what she'd done, but it was then that it had hit her: if she'd brought back one life maybe she could bring back another. _Daniel._

Now here she sat on the edge of the sidewalk outside the pawn shop, rotating her phone between her hands, trying to decide whether or not to call the woman whose happiness she'd just potentially destroyed.

_Click. _The screen lit up.

_Click. _It went blank again.

_Click. _She was staring at the photo she'd taken of Henry and Regina eating in the dinner with her, Snow and Charming at Granny's.

Then her finger hovered over the 'call' button. Then she lost her nerve. She had to think this through. But what was there to think through? She couldn't tell Regina what she was planning, she'd probably tell her to stop because it was stupid or impossible or too dangerous or because she was mad and didn't want Emma's help. There was no guarantee Regina would even answer the phone when she saw Emma's name flash up on the screen.

She made a noise in frustration, resting her head on her hands, elbows on knees. She just needed a chance to get close to Regina. She had an idea of what she needed to do. Rumple had mentioned needing an anchor and she remembered Snow telling her Regina kept a ring on a chain around her neck, something to do with Daniel. It was Emma's best bet.

In the end she decided on sending a text, that way all Regina had to do was read it and (hopefully) show up.

_I'm at Gold's. Hear me out. You don't have to talk to me or even look at me. Please? –E._ She pressed 'send'.

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><p>Regina sat at her desk staring straight ahead in a way she had become accustomed to doing after spending 28 years in a land without magic whenever she became upset, frustrated, or angry. She had no outlet during those years and was unable to rip out and crush the heart of the next person to get on her nerves like she may have done in the past, so she developed her own way of soothing herself and blocking out her unwanted emotions. She knew now since her eyes had been opened to the post-curse world that doing this was not healthy but it was the only way she knew how to cope. Especially now that she had once again lost all hope.<p>

She felt certain that Marian's return would mean Robin would want to play happy families with her instead and Regina couldn't blame him for that. She was Roland's mother after all and with the past being changed so drastically all Marian knew was her life with _her_ family. Robin had loved her and now it was as if they owed it to the world for bringing them back together to give their relationship a try in this new world. They had every right to want to make things work out.

If things didn't go smoothly and Robin and Marian admitted defeat on the relationship front, Regina wondered whether he would try to come back to her. He was supposed to be her true love after all but Regina wasn't sure the man would ever be able to make her feel safe again. She wasn't sure she'd ever be able to wake up without panicking that he'd left her during the night for someone better, someone less tortured and difficult; someone easier to love.

Her eyes jolted across the desk to where her phone lay as the screen lit up.

_YOU HAVE (1) NEW MESSAGE FROM: EMMA SWAN_

Regina began to run her hands through her hair and wipe her face before stopping herself. It wasn't like Emma could see her. It wasn't like it should matter if she could.

She tried to tell herself not to read the message, that it didn't matter what it contained. What had been done couldn't be changed but her brain was in a world of its own, completely on autopilot when it came to Emma Swan. No matter how much pain the other was in, they were the only two people who ever really seemed to be able to fully comprehend it, even when they had been the cause of it. They didn't need to comfort each other or pretend to be something they weren't to make the other happy. They were brutal to the bone in their own separate ways and yet it _worked _for them. The last time Regina felt she had been able to say that about herself with regards to another person, she had been another person. It had been lifetimes ago, when she was a young girl who hated magic and loved horses. Not that she would ever admit any of this to Emma.

The next step in Regina's futile battle to remain angry and upset was to tell herself not to _act_ on the message. Despite this she continued to read it over and over before coming to a decision. Emma had clearly stated Regina wouldn't have to look at her or respond to her wittering so what harm could it do to pay her a visit? Maybe she'd just end up eating roast swan for dinner.

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><p>"I believe you have some explaining to do, Miss Swan," the darker haired woman's voice came out void of any recognisable emotion as she appeared in a cloud of purple smoke in front of Storybrooke's pawn shop.<p>

A shiver shot down Emma's spine as she looked up in surprise. She really hadn't expected Regina to show up and now she had no idea what to say. She _had_ to find a way to get close enough to her to get the ring.

Emma stood, brushing down her jeans to remove any dirt from the pavement as she did. "I'm sorry," she started to say, trying buy herself some time.

"If that's all Miss Swan, I think we're done here." Regina turned away from her, instantly shutting her down.

"No, wait," Emma called after her. "I didn't ask you to come here just so I could apologise. I did that earlier and I know you knew I meant it even if you're not ready to forgive me yet. I wouldn't hold it against you if you never forgave me. Please, just, wait."

Regina didn't turn to look at her, but she wasn't walking away either, so Emma took that as a sign to continue.

"I know you think I'm trying to be the hero here but I'm not. I just want to make things right. That's not going to happen straight away. I get it, okay? It's just that earlier you said you were the villain of this story again. I guess I just needed to make sure you knew I'm not going to let anyone treat you like that. You don't deserve it, Regina, but Marian didn't deserve to die either." Emma paused when she saw Regina visibly flinching.

"I thought I also told you I didn't want your help. Stay out of it, Miss Swan. My life is of no concern to you."

The look on Emma's face resembled that of a kicked puppy. "Yeah, but I'm here anyway."

The look Regina gave her assured that she understood what Emma was saying between the lines. Though her pursed lips and wrinkled forehead remained strained, her eyes were soft. Regina had now had two loves taken from her, been forced into a marriage and abused by her mother. Emma was no stranger to that sort of pain and didn't want to make Regina's current suffering any worse than it had to be. Emma herself had lost Neal, been given up as a child, and lived on the streets with no one to look out for her. In the end, both of them had gone to a form of prison as punishment for loving and wanting to be loved in return.

Although Regina would never tell, seeing Emma's own strength push through her insecurities was what had at many times spurred on Regina's own strength, even when they fought each other every step of the way.

Just as the moment between them was passing, Emma reminded herself of what she was supposed to be doing here. It was now or never. There would have been a time when Regina would have never let her say those things even on a good day. The fact that she had let Emma speak proved not only how far she had come as a person but how far their relationship with each other had come.

At their worst times they had been able to express themselves completely through a look but now they were unafraid to vocalise those looks as well. Things between them weren't always simple or easy or happy but they got the job done. In a strange way the intense emotions they seemed to share for each other powered them through.

With that thought in mind, Emma cautiously reached out to Regina who seemed too deep in thought to comprehend what was going on until she was being enveloped in Emma's arms. There were a few beats before Regina moved, awkwardly placing her hands on Emma's back, and a few more before she seemed to partially relax.

Emma could feel the ring pressing against her chest but made no move to take it just yet as her arms hung around Regina's neck. She wanted to savour this moment because she didn't know if she'd ever get another like it. Her ulterior motive didn't make her words or actions any less real. Right now she was going with whatever came naturally to her and being this close to Regina felt like the most natural thing she'd ever done.

When Regina finally seemed to accept the hug, Emma squeezed her tightly for a brief moment in the hopes of conveying all the reassurance she could muster, silently praying that the feeling would continue through the course of the next events.

One hand was already placed at the base of Regina's neck, the other gliding across her shoulder blades. The way Regina was clinging to her now gave her the confidence that she was doing the right thing. Maybe she wouldn't live long enough to see the result of her actions but at least she knew everyone would be happy.

There would be Robin and Marian and Roland, Snow and Charming and baby Neal, Rumple and Belle and when she was done there would be Regina and Daniel and Henry too. Everyone would be with their families. Everyone would belong. The happy endings would be intact and her job as the saviour would be done. She would be done. There would be no need for her here after that anyway. Once again she would be cast out. At least this time she would be in control of how it happened.

She pressed her face into the side of Regina's hair in an attempt to engrave this moment into her mind. If she could take any memory into whatever came after this life, she wanted it to be of this woman and their son.

Carefully, she unclasped the back of the necklace and immediately pulled out of the embrace. She moved so quickly she had time to catch the expression on Regina's face switch between trusting to betrayal as the darker haired woman's hand flew to her now bare neck.

"Emma, what did you do?" She seethed.

Before Emma had a chance to reply, Rumple appeared beside her. She tried to reach out to Regina, her eyes begging once again for an opportunity to explain but Rumple took her by the arm and held a vile of dark reddish brown liquid in front of her.

"Drink it," he instructed as if it explained everything.

When Emma gave him a look with a highly arched eyebrow that said _'really, an old dude hands me a substance and expects me to drink it just because he said so'_, Rumple rolled his eyes and clarified his actions. "Let's just say it'll ensure payment on your end of the deal once the spell is active."

"You haven't even told me how I'm supposed to do this thing yet," she protested.

"Oh, that part's easy. You have the anchor, correct?" He paused, awaiting her nod of confirmation. "Well then if the love right here is as strong as you believe it to be, then all you have to do is drink the potion, think of the person you want to bring back and allow your magic to transfer itself into that ring. Magic is inside of you. Your heart will know what it needs to do."

Rumple backed off, leaving Emma to stare blankly into the space he had vacated. Something about his words nagged inside of her. He said the love _right here._ Was Regina also thinking of Daniel at this moment, her love for him never wavering even at a subconscious level? Emma hoped so. She hoped she was making the right choice. He'd also made a comment earlier, that a true love would be taken away. She hadn't dwelled on the comment then but she couldn't seem to help herself as she turned to face Regina. Anger was rolling off the other woman in waves as she waited for Emma to come back and give her an explanation for her behaviour.

That was one explanation she wasn't going to get.

The pair never broke eye contact as Emma slowly lifted the vile to her parted lips and downed it in one. It was like drinking water – there was no odour or favour, but it did leave her throat feeling dry and rough. It slipped down with ease like water too though it felt thicker and more filling. The heaviness of the substance was like a further reminder it held her life.

As soon as she moved to hold up the ring a cramp shot through her middle, forcing her to let the now empty vile drop to the floor and smash as she bent over from the shock of the pain. She saw Regina lurch forward from the corner of one eye as though she wanted to help but didn't know what to do. She stopped herself when she saw Emma straightening up again, anger replaced with confusion and fear of the unknown. From the corner of her other eye as she stood, Emma caught Rumple smiling to himself through the darkness in the doorway of his shop.

She tried again to hold out the ring, a slight magical purple fog already starting to emit from her. This time she succeeded. Everything was happening so quickly now. The fog was appearing thicker and faster and purple electricity flickered continuously throughout the centre of the ring. Emma had to focus hard since she'd never seen Daniel. All she had to go off was his name and the knowledge that Regina had loved him. She focused on the feeling and shapes of all the letters in his name until a figure began to appear before her, at first he was just a silhouette but eventually he grew into a person with features.

Emma's face was contorting in pain now. The more visible Daniel became the weaker she felt and it was becoming harder and harder for her to remain standing.

Another pain shot through her, binding around her chest this time and she clutched it with one hand, the ring held out in the other. She began to feel dizzy and when another round of pain came she was forced kneel on the ground.

If Emma had been paying attention to what was going on around her, she would have seen the tears spilling from Regina's eyes, and they were only partially because of Daniel. She would have heard Regina shouting her name from a distance and then noticed her trying to navigate her way towards her through the fog.

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><p>Regina watched the scene unfolding before her helplessly. When she first realised that it was Daniel standing before her she had been momentarily unable to move or do anything at all for that matter besides stare in bewilderment. Then she heard Emma call out in pain. It didn't even look like the blonde was aware she was screaming. Regina was brought to her senses and that was when she began calling Emma's name to no avail.<p>

She tried to get her own magic to work against Emma's but was too afraid of hurting her further. She understood now what Emma had meant when she'd said she wanted to 'make things right'. She wanted to bring back Daniel. She wanted to bring back her chance of a happy ending. It may have been the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her, if it didn't look like Emma was dying in the process.

Regina needed to get her attention somehow. She needed to get her to stop. She tried to move through the magic but it was so thick and powerful it was hopeless. If only Emma had told her what she was going to do, maybe then she'd have had a chance to explain. Though she had been so angry at Emma for saving Marian from the past that she wasn't sure she'd have tried.

Truth be told, Regina _had _loved Daniel, but he wasn't her happy ending. She had come to accept that if he was, he wouldn't have been gone. Her attempts to remove the darkness from her life had led to some serious soul searching a while back. Everything happened for a reason and therefore she had to believe that Daniel needed to die, both times. It didn't hurt any less that she had lost someone she loved so deeply and effortlessly but it made it easier to accept. At least if there was a reason and the universe had some bigger plan for her then his death wouldn't have been in vain, purely for the selfish reasons of her power hungry mother.

Now it might be too late to tell Emma that.

Regina couldn't remember the last time she had been this scared for someone's life. She couldn't see where she was going at this point but she had to trust that through all this she could still find Emma. She _had _to get to her no matter what. The idea of something happening to the blonde made her feel sick and her insides ache.

Finally, Regina began to see Emma's shape ahead of her. She moved as fast as she could and bent down to catch Emma just in time as she began to fall limply to the ground. Her brain worked at a million miles an hour to try to think clearly and make this entire thing stop.

Then she saw it, the purple glowing ring Emma was holding onto for dear life in her left hand. She snatched it away from Emma, not that it took much effort with the other woman's current condition, and stole one last glance at Daniel as he faded. He looked as pained as she probably did but she reminded herself that he couldn't possibly have been real. They were from two completely different times now and she was almost certain that no matter how much he had loved her back when she was a girl, he'd never have accepted the person she was now with everything she had been through and done.

In fact, the only person who had proved over and over that they ever could was lying in her arms as close to death as one could get.

"Emma!" Regina began to call again, shaking the blonde by the shoulders in a bid to get her to wake up. She wasn't sure this was the kind of near death a medical doctor could fix. She would have to deal with this on her own.

The more she called Emma's name and begged for her to wake up, the more her voice dissolved into sobs. "Emma? Emma, please don't do this," she cried, adjusting their position so she could lie Emma down properly and kneel over her, placing her forehead against hers.

She felt like she had been clutching Emma's body for hours though it had been mere minutes – she was so cold now and the purple mist had completely faded. She thought back to all the arguments they'd had, or as many as she could remember since there had been a _lot_

She thought of the times when they'd been so mad, so passionate about their own cause that they'd hit each other, thrown each other against walls and used magic as a weapon. She thought of the times they had put their magic together to save their son and the times when Emma had believed in her when no one else did. She thought of when they'd first met and Emma had sat in her home in that ridiculous red leather jacket and they'd shared homemade apple cider. She thought of sending her and Henry back to New York, believing she'd never see either one of them again and how much it hurt that she was never going to see Emma's stupid facial expressions every time she didn't understand something, or hear her awful sounding orders at the diner or see her smile again.

She didn't bother to hold back the sobs that were wracking her body now. Emma had made a deal with Gold and brought back Daniel and she had paid the price for it, even if the spell had been incomplete Rumple had done his part of the deal. He'd given Emma the means to bring the past into the present.

Her tears dripped down onto Emma's checks and Regina traced her pale face with the pads of her thumbs. She skimmed over prominent cheekbones, tickled eyelashes and brushed over curved lips.

"I love you," she whispered though her words would forever go unheard.

Without thinking about it, she laid a kiss gently on Emma's lips, ready to let her go.

As she tried to move away, she swore she saw Emma's eyelids twitch but put it down to a trick of the brain for wanting her to come back so much.

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><p>Salt. Salt and heavy eyelids that wouldn't lift. Salt, heavy eyelids and the feeling of pressure on the back of her head and waist as if someone were holding her there.<p>

Suddenly her whole body jerked forwards, her eyes shot open and she gasped for much needed oxygen.

"Emma!" She heard Regina's voice call her name. It was different, raspier than usual. She sounded so close. She turned in search of her, putting her hands down to prop herself up and hissed when she scratched her hand on broken glass.

Broken glass, of course, it was all coming back to her now. The spell, Daniel, Regina's happy ending. But she was alive, she felt alive. She shouldn't be alive. Panic struck through her but before she could angrily get up and search for Rumple she was engulfed in Regina's arms, being held tighter than she ever thought possible and hearing her name being chanted into her ear.

Her cheek was pressed against Regina's and she noticed it was damp, as if she had been crying. She pursed her lips together. Tears. Her mouth had tasted like salt and she had woken up from what she was sure had been death; the very thing she had earlier insisted was a curse and therefore could surely be broken by an act of true love.

Did that mean Regina had?

No. Surely not.

But then Regina confirmed her suspicions when she pulled away slightly and held Emma's face between her hands. Her eyes sparkled and she looked as though she couldn't remove the smile from her expression.

"I just wanted to bring you your happy ending," Emma tried to explain herself sadly, not knowing what else she could say right now. She had messed up again. She had given Regina another glimpse at happiness and it had gone away again. She just couldn't understand why Regina had stayed, why she had held onto her in death. She was the one person Emma wanted to make happier than anything, and the one person she kept failing to.

Regina's head was shaking back and forth and she traced Emma's face with her eyes as though she couldn't believe she was sitting here in front of her, alive and breathing.

When she kissed her, Emma accepted it without a second thought. She melted into it and held Regina to her tightly as though she might die again at any second and this would all be a dream.

"You are my happy ending," Regina croaked through tears like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Her smile never faltered. "Emma I," she stumbled, this had been easier to say when Emma was unable to hear her. Their faces remained close, noses touching. Emma's eyes were bright and kind. There was no way now she'd ever be able to deny how she felt ever again. "Emma, I love you."

This time Emma kissed her, and there was nothing sweet or gentle about it. It was the kind of kiss that had been building up for years, the kind that said _I need you_ and _I can't live without you._ It was hungry and filled with their tears and the pain of almost losing each other. It was over far too quickly and picked up again the instant Emma was done looking into her eyes and saying, "I love you, too."

Neither of them noticed Rumple still standing in the doorway of his shop, shaking his head at the two of them. He had been right. Nothing could get in the way of true love. Not even death itself.

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><p><strong>*Pushes a box of tissues in your direction*<strong>

***Wipes sweat from brow* Wow. This is the longest one shot I've ever written ever. Trust me, if this hadn't been to fit a prompt I could have very easily been totally evil with the ending there and taken it in a different direction. Luckily I decided not to give you a reason to plot my death today. For that reason I think you should leave me a _REVIEW_. ;}**


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